Local Band Could Open For Boss

There is one New Jersey band that is chasing the dream gig opening for Springsteen…can you think of an unsung Jersey band that should open for the Boss?

They call themselves the Great Fraud, but there's nothing fake about their passion for making music.

This North Jersey group, formed less than a year ago, bills itself as a bluesy rock-and-roll band, influenced by Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Muddy Waters. If it gets enough fan votes, the band just may open for Bruce Springsteen in London this summer.

After winning the Hard Rock Rising Global Battle of the Bands for the New York/New Jersey/ Connecticut area - a competition that had the top groups duking it out live at the Hard Rock Café in Times Square last month - the Great Fraud now represents the tri-state area as one of 85 international bands competing for fan votes on Facebook.

The top 10 winners from this round, which ends Tuesday, will perform before a panel of musicians and industry leaders for the chance to open for the Boss in London's Hyde Park in July.

As of Sunday afternoon, the Great Fraud was ranked 22nd with more than 2,400 votes.

Joe Marrero of Fort Lee, the band's lead singer and guitarist said "We just beat out 680-something bands in our area to represent New York," "That already says so much. If we don't make it to London, we will walk away on top."

For the members of the Great Fraud know this could be the opportunity of a lifetime. They are doing everything they can to win over fans - for example, by handing out cards on the streets of New Jersey and New York over the last couple of weeks.

Marrero, who’s a 1999 graduate of Fort Lee High School…."We need everyone's support to get behind us or there's no way we'll win," said

His father, Ray Marrero, said being a musician is not always lucrative, but nonetheless he supports his son's ambitions.

In less than a year, the Great Fraud has gone from relative obscurity - holding jam sessions |in its drummer's basement in Wantage - to captivating a |Times Square audience to cultivating a global following through the power of the World Wide Web.

Marrero credits an uncle for turning him onto music when he was about 16.

He and the Great Fraud's bass player, Taso Zahariadis, also a Fort Lee High School graduate, have played together off and on for 15 years.

The two reunited less than a year ago when Marrero was playing with another group and saw that things weren't working out. They hooked up with a drummer, Tony Marchesani of Wantage, and a harmonica player, Phil "Reese" Karlan of Hardyston.

The hour-and-a-half commute to practice for some members, and the ritual of playing evening and weekend gigs while holding down full-time jobs, can be toilsome. But the band members never have questioned whether to make time for their music.

The groups hopes to release its first albun, "Brass Balloon," this summer and is booked May 19 at the West Side Grill inWoodland Park.